A newspaper clipping from 1973, showing Millville's first class of foot patrolmen being sworn in to the Police Department, was on display as Saturday's reunion. / Submitted photo

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Reunion co-organizers Walt Clement (left) and Martin Dunn look back at old photographs from 1973 during a 40th anniversary reunion Saturady for the original class of the Millville Police Department's foot patrol unit. / Staff photo/Cody Glenn

Six of the nine original members of Millville's first foot patrol police unit, who were sworn in together in 1973 — (from left) Guy Pastrana, John Olah, Walt Clement, Bob Chard, Joe Davis and Martin Dunn — gathered for a 40th reunion Saturday night. / Staff photo/Cody Glenn

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MILLVILLE — The year was 1973.

Hailing from across the state and as far as New York City, a band of rookie cops fresh from the academy were assembled for a special assignment in the Holly City.

The green nine-man squad took turns covering three zones of Millville on foot to get a more up-close-and-personal handle on law enforcement in the community they served.

They walked the beat together around the clock and through all types of wicked weather. The patrolmen said they would have taken a bullet for their partners.

For each, it would be their first experience as a cop. The oldest was 27, the youngest 19.

Forty years later, members of the Millville Police Department’s first foot patrol unit gathered Saturday night at Winfield’s Restaurant for an event that had the feel of a family reunion rather than a police reunion.

“We’re brothers,” said co-organizer Martin Dunn, who later retired as police chief in Jaffrey, N.H. “I’ve never experience the true friendships and camaraderie as I have here.”

In addition to Dunn, the nine original members of the city’s foot patrol unit are Walt Clements, Bob Chard, Joe Davis, Mike Lesser, John Olah, James Monkowski, Guy Pastrana and Bill Smith.

The reunion was held at a familiar spot with a different name. Back in their heyday, the guys met for coffee and to flirt with waitresses at the F.W. Woolworth five-and-dime store on High Street, an address that’s now home to Winfield’s.

Six of the nine retirees caught up with one another and their better halves Saturday night for dinner, drinks and lots of reminiscing over old photographs.

“I had hair back then!” Clements exclaimed.

The got a kick out of a paycheck for $128 a week that Dunn brought and pasted on an easel of other keepsakes.

Dunn handed out commemorative coins that had the Millville Police Department logo on the front and “40th Reunion Foot Patrol Unit” on the back. They included the date the men were sworn in: Nov. 12, 1973.

Dunn also gave each former fellow officer a copy of a meal ticket from when they were in the police academy.

All nine men were hired as a group under the federal Safe and Clean Streets Act in response to civil unrest of the day.

At the time, the hires represented a nearly 25 percent increase in the size of the city’s police force, which went from 39 officers to 48-strong.

The beats were split up from Main Street north to Mulberry Street, from Mulberry to Broad Street, and from Broad to the north end of town. They switched patrols every three months.

Dunn believes police walking the street is a constructive approach.

“We wanted to earn the respect of the neighborhood,” he said. “Prior to that (foot patrol), the only time people would see police was negative encounters. But with the foot patrol, we would interact with businesses and schoolkids and forged relationships. It was very positive.”

Vineland and Bridgeton also took federal money to start foot patrols.

Five of the nine — Chard, Davis, Olah, Smith and Lesser — retired from Millville Police Department. Dunn and Pastrana moved on to different police departments in the state and beyond. Clements worked with the FBI for six years before serving as international security director for Procter & Gamble Co., and Monkowski pursued a civilian career as a truck driver.

Lesser, Monkowski and Smith were unable to attend Saturday’s reunion. Those officers who did attend said believed the foot patrol was disbanded in the 1980s but weren’t sure exactly when.

As someone who retired from the Millville Police Department at the rank of detective sergeant and still lives in the county, Chard believes the constant presence in the city streets could be beneficial today.

“In my opinion, they need to saturate all these neighborhoods,” said Chard, who retired in 1998 and lives in Port Elizabeth. “The bad areas especially. Millville’s environment has changed quite a bit.”

John Olah, who retired with the rank of captain in 2006 after 33 years on the force and stayed in Millville, agrees. “It could be extremely beneficial, but with budget constraints I doubt it,” he said.

Davis retired as a patrolman in 2000 after 26 years on duty. He reminisced about the early days together.

“There was a tightness there between us all,” he said.

For Pastrana, it wasn’t only his first time seeing any of his fellow officers since the ’70s, but also his first time in Millville since his patrol days.

Pastrana has been battling lymphoma for four years and considered himself lucky to be in attendance.

After leaving Millville, Pastrana went on to work for police departments in Hamilton Township, Pleasantville and eventually Linwood, where he retired in 1994 after suffering a broken foot. But he credits his first job in Millville.

“I grew up on this beat,” said Pastrana, who came from Queens, N.Y., to join the Millville PD. “This was my first day in uniform as a policeman. It was a culture shock coming from New York City, but it was very special. I was just a kid.”

Organizers of the event found Pastrana on LinkedIn.

He also recalled being enthralled by the Al Pacino movie “Serpico,” which debuted in on the big screen the same year he and the officers debuted on the streets, after seeing it at the Levoy Theatre.

“I even bought the sheepdog like Serpico had and named him Alfie like Pacino’s character did,” Pastrana said. “I was so proud to be a cop.”

The two who traveled the farthest to attend the reunion also were the two who got the ball rolling for the event: Clements from Ohio and Dunn from New Hampshire.

“I never thought I’d see some of these guys again,” Clements said. “It’s a dream come true. We look a lot different now, but friendships never change. One of the proudest moments of our lives was representing the police department on the street. And we’d still take a bullet for each other today.”